The Natural Instinct
by Lady-Brover
Summary: -X-Men Evolution: Season 3 Episode 13- Pietro's struggles with his protective urges over a careless John. Pietro/John Friendship.


It all happened so fast. Too fast.

Which was just _pitiful_; his life was all about speed.

One minute they were descending into this freaky underground tomb. The next, they were all separated. The ground beneath him shook and shuddered, then without warning just collapsed. He struggled blindly, the flames weren't enough to light the entire area. The three young men all shouted in panic as they lost their footing. There was complete darkness.

–

Pietro groaned, rubbing his head from where he fell. There was a 'hiss' and he looked up in time to see three fireballs explode into each other; causing an eerie light to show everything. Standing up, he noticed that trapped with him were Cyclops and Pyro. 'Geez, what a great team we'll make.'

He had no further time to muse his sarcastic thoughts though once he noticed the two giant figures. Those _things_ that came to life and caused this entire mess.

They all looked up in terror, no one twitching a muscle.

"Nobody move..." Cyclops said slowly. 'Yeah, wasn't planning on it.'

"Okay, nice and slow," He continued, taking his 'leadership' actions into play, "Let's find us a way out of here."

Pietro was already into motion before the other two could blink; "You got it!" and he was gone in a flash.

–

A part of him was looking for an exit so they could get the hell out of this place. Another selfish part of him -which he didn't want to admit honestly- was that he didn't want to stay and fight the giant figures. He swallowed the tiny guilt and continued to run through endless tunnels, searching.

Seconds passed into minutes. Minutes passed into what felt like forever. Until finally, he stumbled upon a larger tunnel which looked like salvation. "Bingo." A cocky smirk spread across his face before running back to the others.

'It's not that hard," He comprehended as he turned and ran down a hallway. 'The tunnels may seem confusing, but eh, not that hard once you get used to it.'

He shuddered; even running this fast, he could still feel the ground shaking thuds from all the attacking. But, the thoughts were shoved aside once he came down a familiar tunnel that led him to his original location.

–

_Ouch!_ That's gotta hurt;

Quicksilver returned in time to see Pyro get smacked aside so easily, just like an annoying insect. The Aussie rolled two times before coming to a halt, which ended up being right at his own feet when he stopped himself.

"I found a way out!" He motioned with his hand, backwards from where he came. "So let's finish these guys!"

Pietro pointed to the giant Anubis and what looked to be a form of Ra. He didn't really know nor care. It's not like he did his research on this Egyptian shit.

From the corner of his eye, he could see Pyro sitting up and staring at him with an incredulous stare. He spared him a very quick sympathetic glance before sprinting off.

It took a couple of runs around the robot's legs -he noticed the arm that was torn off- before he got a weak twister spinning, sending the damn thing crashing into a wall.

He took no notice of the other robot who was standing it's guard in the corner. The one he just attacked seemed to stand still as if it were playing dead.

But, that wasn't enough for him to put his guard down. Behind him, stood Cyclops; and together they waited, tense.

Then, just like that, _another_ one of those things came crashing through the wall, taking out the one he previously attacked. All of the young men gasped, their heads turning to investigate. Ah, it was just some of the others. Storm, Jean and that IceKiddo or what have you. While, he mostly did feel relief, there was a touch of annoyance for god knows what. Maybe it was just the X-Men in general, that could possibly-

Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed what appeared to be a orange blob moving. 'John!' Pietro felt ashamed for forgetting about the poor Aussie, especially with him injured. He quickened over to his side, ignoring everything else.

"Need a hand?"

John looked up, fairly shocked. He did nothing else but just stared. When he didn't answer after a few moments, Pietro gave his best smile. "It looks like you're having some trouble getting up," He chuckled. "You want my help or what?"

The pyromaniac finally seemed to recover and smiled in return, "Yeah, some help would be nice.."

Nothing more needed to be said. With those words, Pietro gently helped him up, getting a nice tight hold on John's hip. The Aussie got the idea immediately and snaked his free arm around Pietro's shoulders, his other arm cradling his bruised stomach.

Once the pair were snug and situated, they headed towards the group -mostly just John following his movements the best he could-.

"Follow me! There's a tunnel!

He then turned, looking worriedly -Not that he would admit it- at the smaller boy. When he proved to be just fine, they ran off in the right direction. The others distant footsteps reassured that they listened and were close behind.

It was odd; he was always running fast. Every second he could. But now that he was helping John, he made sure to run at a normal pace. Always slow for John. It didn't even register in his mind that he had to run slow so the others could follow and keep up. No, the only thought running through his head was the insane Aussie and his well being.

"Thanks, mate. I appreciate it."

Pietro glanced down, faintly surprised. John wasn't looking at him, but it wasn't difficult to see the smile that was pasted on his face. "Yeah, whatever. Just so you know, this isn't gonna happen again." His tone of voice held no venom; but reflected back the smile.

–

Alright, it was decided. Danger was just attracted to Pyro. They were like soul-mates.

That or the Aussie was a complete idiot who didn't think things through. Yeah, that option made a lot more sense. And definitely the only thing going through the White-Blonde's head.

'That _idiot!_' He was going to get himself killed _again_!

Why was everything happening so fast today? He didn't like it. Which even to himself, sounded completely insane. The group were led to the tunnel that he had found. But, _noo_, Miss Jean Grey used her physic powers to sense where the rest of the gang were. After that, it was all a blur. Cyclops used one of his blasts to destroy a path in the stubborn wall, there were shouts and then the entire wall exploded.

Those damn Egyptian robots just wouldn't give up, would they?

Storm, Jean and himself fled from the scene. While the more "braver" teenagers stayed behind. Combined; Cyclops, Iceman and Pyro used their assault attacks. It turned out to be futile in a matter of seconds. This time, the more "intelligent" teenagers fled as well. Only the idiot stayed behind now. The overconfident, insane idiot who was indeed about to be sliced in half.

Pietro's body was already in motion, even before he could think. Running at lighting speed, he took a hold of Pyro's hand, and ran back, carrying the dazed pyromaniac with him. Just in time, as the giant scythe took impact to the ground.

They finally stopped when Pietro decided it was a 'safe' distance. He reluctantly let go -not sure why he was feeling so protective at the moment- and gave Pyro a stern glare.

"You're an idiot. Your stupidity is OUTSTANDING. Without me you probably would've been killed a long time ago!" He ranted. To his curiosity and surprise, the 16 year old nodded in agreement and giggled, "I'm gonna have ta agree with ya there."

All the anger Pietro held washed away instantly. He reasoned that John wasn't to blame for his tactics. It's just the person he was, and Pietro had no reason to yell. BUT, that didn't mean he didn't have any reason to be upset. "Alright, fine. Just, watch out more, would you?"

John giggled again and nodded, squeezing Pietro's arm momentarily in thanks. His mouth opened, as if about to speak but Scott's bellowing yell echoed off the area, "Let's get out of here and to the professor!" That was all they needed and began to ran off, away from the clanking foot steps.

As they ran for supposed 'safety', Pietro couldn't help but muse about John. In the past, when he joined the Acolytes, even if his time there was short, the only person he really chatted with was Johnny-boy himself.

The Sabertooth man was honestly intimidating and not very fun at all to be around, so understandably, Pietro avoided him. Colossus wasn't much different. He _was_ a huge man, but remained quiet. Ever and if Pietro was searching for him, he always seemed to be locked up in his room. Yeah, not somebody he wanted to try and get along with.. Then came Gambit, who's name was Remy, if he recalled correctly. The man never exactly talked about himself. But in all honestly, he was a pretty awesome guy; He was always calm and cool, but could be sarcastic at the right times. Aside from him, left John. The one he talked to most, only because they were closest in age. Which was reasonable, since people were normally attracted to others their age, right? The Aussie was a total nut-job though. When playing with fire, the guy was insane, but when around the base, he seemed pretty normal, childish even. Which made Pietro feel comfortable, because only to himself would he admit that he could be childish too. The two had the most fun together, playing small pranks on the others, and having the most conversations.

And only because of that would he blame his newly discovered protective urge over the pyromaniac. As they ran though, Pietro realized that he _could_ ditch the others now, run as fast as he could and get the hell out of here...

But, one glance at Pyro, who was running a few feet away dissolved those thoughts almost instantly.

Now, if just for now, he would stay behind for John; Just in case.


End file.
